Most teens are worrying about how popular they are on social media services, or what shiny new things they want to buy, but 14 year-old Deepika Kurup from Nashua, New Hampshire decided to spend her free time finding "a solution to the global water crisis." After countless hours of research and tinkering, she invented a solar-powered purification system in her backyard. Continue reading for a video and more information.

According to Inhabitat: "After counting the levels of coliform bacteria before and after she applied her system with 3M Petrifilms, she found that her system had significantly reduced the amount of coliforms from 8,000 down to 50 and E. coli from more than 1,000 down to none in less than 8 hours. In one hour, she was also able to degrade methane blue, oxidizing it faster that most current processes. Unlike most purification methods that rely on UV lamps that require electricity, nasty chemicals, or pricey filtration systems, Kurup's composite which also incorporates cement and 3M Glass Bubbles, costs half a cent per gram. Applied through both a photocatalytic rod and reflector film, she was able to achieve this amazing results with an amazing amount of efficiency and consistency."